I desired you, I didn’t. I desired what’s coming
of the past. The roads will open for us. Life
will take us to its nature. We’ll forget
our shadows under the ancient pine tree, and leave
them there seated in shadows. A new day will rise
over our roads. We have two separate shadows
that don’t embrace or return the swallows’
greetings. I said: Think of the shadow if you want
to remember. She said: Be strong and realistic, forget
my shadow. On two roads life will take us
to its new nature. The dove won’t herald
peace or safety. We won’t be as we wished
to be. Whenever longing sleeps, tomorrow
awakens. We’ll be cured of our small resurrection
when the shadows sit on the fence, when
the moon is not a fever. When the shadows
sit on the fence.
—Translated by Fady Joudah
This poem ran in the February 17, 2011, issue of the magazine.